Worried. Possible Autism? *UPDATE PAGE 3*

[Weeplin]

I posted this in the toddler section but I think it's more suited here.



I've been worried about this for a while now and I've just seen Winegums thread about how she is worried and I didn't want to Hijack her thread.

Thing is, Jason is 21 months old and doesn't say a single word. He makes noises, "grunts" as if he is chattering but nothing recognisable, infact they are the same grunts he has been making since he was about 6 months +.

He used to say Hiya, very quietly but when he started trying to walk he stopped and we haven't heard him mumble it since. No amount of coaxing will even encourage him to try.

We are also a bit worried about his behaviour. Sometimes he will respond and look when you call his name but he will also ignore, often looking as though he hasn't heard me at all. He is frustrated very easily, doesn't play properly very often and mostly gets angry with his toys. He does like to bash teddys or my daughters Ninja turtles together as if they are fighting but his favourite past time is running up and down the room which he does a lot! He has actually been going up and down the room since crawling where he would go up and down it crawling, then he did it with his v tech walker thing and now he does it all the time walking.

A couple of other things. He arm flaps. When he is excited or sometimes when he is running around. He also has an extreme attachment to a small iglle piggle teddy. He can't sleep without it, its the only thing he actually full on adores and it will calm him down when he is in a bit of a mess. As well as the talking he has missed all his milestones. He was late doing everything except holding his head up.

I am going to call the health visitor today but I am worrying now. Could this be the sign of Autism?

Sorry if this makes no sense

 

[nikkip19]

first of all i see that you had a little girl first? correct? please remember that girls seem to talk before boys and boys are more into "rough housing". i know its sooo hard not to compare! secondly , does he point at things? wave? smile when smiled at? if so, then has he has ear infections? alot of kids who have , have hearing problems and then thier speech is delayed. tubes usually solve that problem. id still contact your hv for some reassurance. hope everything turns out well for you

 

[Weeplin]

Hi, thank you for the reply!

I have been told about the whole boy girl difference thing and tbh haven't been giving how he is a second thought, I just figured he was taking his time but over the last month I have just been noticing more and more and how other babies are in my daughters playground and on here. His dad got really upset the other night because whenever I take Jason to bed I take him to his dad to say night night but Jason doesn't do anything. his daddy is saying night night and giving him a kiss and Jason doesn't even seem to register it and he won't look at him. It has always been that way but OH was upset and said that there must be something wrong with him because he acts like I'm not even here.

He doesn't point at things and we have just managed to get him to wave although he doesn't raise his arm just clasps his fingers open and closed at his side. He will smile if you smile at him sometimes.

I have called the heath visitor and they are going to call back tomorrow to arrange a home visit so hopefully we can go from there.

EDIT: He has never had an ear infection

 

[natalies1982]

hi ya

i have a 6 year old with aspergers and a 2 year old now under assessment for his speach and behaviour.

its good u have called ur HV hopefully she wil come out and do an assement to see if there is any cause of concern, you know when something isnt right we knew with matthew (aspergers) from 9 months old when he just seemed different the firts thing we notiched was him responding to noises (covering his ears) and it went on from there he hand flapped, eye contact was poor, he was obsessed with certain things, had to have the same routine, hated new things, going out was a huge issue for him. but hes speach was above average at 2. it eventually took til he was 4 and at school for him to be referred to the childrens centre and the assesements began.

how my 2 year old has very little speach this time 8-12 months ago he knew about 20 words then stopped saying anything (we put it down to learning to walk) however hes never progressed from what he knew. he can say words like mummy, daddy, bear, more, no but putting words together is something he doesnt do.

hes behaviour is causing us probs to so hes been referred to speach therapy.

sorry ive gone on abit there lol

just wanted to share my experiences. i would in the meantime keep a note of any weird behaviour u notice and keep a diary of it that way u have something to show if he gets referred on

 

[Weeplin]

Thanks for sharing your experience . I am going to keep a note of stuff he has done and anything else that I notice. Jason flaps his arms but I don't know if that is anything related because my daughter flapped and occasionally flaps even now (at 6) but she is ok.

I have been reading stuff online and some of the symptoms match but others do not. Jason doesn't seem fussed about any sort of routine. I guess it's for the health visitor to see.

Thanks again

 

[natalies1982]

hi ya

just remember no 2 children with autism are the same the spectrum is huge.

good luck with the HV keep us posted

 

[Weeplin]

Yeah, will keep you posted

Cheers

 

[velvetina]

Hi hun,

I understand your concerns and how you are feeling, and well done for getting him checked out. He is still very young and there are many things to look at. You may find the tool I have listed below helpful not in diagnosing your son but in using the questions as a list for the health visitor. Bear in mind some of the questions will not be relevant as he will be a little too young, but it will help guide you in giving her information about him. Write down your concerns and list what he is doing.


https://www.childbrain.com/pddassess.html

Usual route will be to have his hearing checked, and if this is affecting his speech, some children with speech and language issues can exhibit asd traits.

I have a 14 yr old with asd, my 4 yr old has social issues, but has no speech and language issues, if there is anything I can do to help please just ask. Let us know how the visit goes hun. Take care. x

 

[Weeplin]

Thank you I will have a look at the site. I am still waiting to hear back from my health visitor but I will let you know how it goes.

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

Hi my son has autism. I know how hard it can be to find answers etc

When your son points to things what finger does he use?

I hope you manage to get some answers PM me if you want to chat x

 

[homebirth]

just wanted to say my son is 10 in december,
i kept saying there was something i couldn't quite put my finger on with him, friends kept telling me, he's just a boy! (i have an older daughter) and for a very long time i thought they are prob right. I kept thinking no one elses boys do what he does.
turns out i was right. - he was diagnosed with aspergers just after his 9th birthday.
go with your instincts hun, i'm not saying your son will have it, what i'm saying is its best to get checked x that way you'll know one way or the other x

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

just wanted to say my son is 10 in december,
i kept saying there was something i couldn't quite put my finger on with him, friends kept telling me, he's just a boy! (i have an older daughter) and for a very long time i thought they are prob right. I kept thinking no one elses boys do what he does.
turns out i was right. - he was diagnosed with aspergers just after his 9th birthday.
go with your instincts hun, i'm not saying your son will have it, what i'm saying is its best to get checked x that way you'll know one way or the other x

I got this too. No one took me seriously untill he was diagnosed. Trust instincts x

 

[morri]

I have read just yesterday again that people with asperger show a bad coordination and strange muscle tone form early age on, so if you see that he has unusual walking patterns or movement patterns it is said that is because they don't have an as good idea where their body is in a room as not asperger kids. Some can also have a high pain threshold so they don't feel sore (physically) as easily.

 

[Weeplin]

Jason has actually just started pointing 2 days ago and today he for the first time identified his sister and pointed to her when asked "where's Aimee?" I feel like this is a milestone, I am so pleased for him! He is pointing with his index finger.

I think something is up and I just want to know so I can do best by him. His dad is getting more and more convinced that he is ok and thinks we shouldn't even mention it to the health visitor and see if she notices! I also got rather upset at my father in law (to be) because he assumed that just because Jason wasn't acting how he would assume a special needs toddler would act that he is ok. He was like "he is smiling and knows how to eat nice, how can he be autistic?" He thinks I am over worrying myself. I know he probably just doesn't understand Autism, It's just difficult and I'm worried everyone is going to be devastated if he is autistic and be different with him because they think he is a certain way when he is still the same little boy he was before.

I'm not sure if Jason has bad coordination or not...

 

[nkbapbt]

You know...I had a micro preemie born at 23.4 weeks, he suffered a massive bleed on his brain and we were told to remove him from life support as he would have no future. If he even lived. Then everyone was concerned he might have "issues" like we were told. Everyone waited for them, they never came. But people who I thought FOR SURE would treat my son differently if he did have special needs, were the people who loved and accepted him the most.

It's really hard to tell how people might react. I know it's hard to not worry for your son, but take it a day at a time. Educate and advocate. If he is autistic well everyone will just have to get over it. It doesn't change who he is and shouldn't change anyone's love for him or how they view or treat him.

Good luck.

 

[Adanma]

midnight fairy: You rcomment about the pointing finger made me laugh because my son with Asperger's always pointed with his "naughty" finger! Still does!

weeplin: I hope you find the answers you need. No one took my concerns seriously either until he was diagnosed. It's good you're getting him evaluated early Ot and PT will be really helpful at that age. I wish my son had been diagnosed sooner so he could be better prepared now that he is in school. 5.5 yo.

Adanma

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

midnight fairy: You rcomment about the pointing finger made me laugh because my son with Asperger's always pointed with his "naughty" finger! Still does!

weeplin: I hope you find the answers you need. No one took my concerns seriously either until he was diagnosed. It's good you're getting him evaluated early Ot and PT will be really helpful at that age. I wish my son had been diagnosed sooner so he could be better prepared now that he is in school. 5.5 yo.

Adanma

LOL I didnt notice untill the assessor pointed it out to me x

 

[Adanma]

midnight fairy: You rcomment about the pointing finger made me laugh because my son with Asperger's always pointed with his "naughty" finger! Still does!

weeplin: I hope you find the answers you need. No one took my concerns seriously either until he was diagnosed. It's good you're getting him evaluated early Ot and PT will be really helpful at that age. I wish my son had been diagnosed sooner so he could be better prepared now that he is in school. 5.5 yo.

Adanma

LOL I didnt notice untill the assessor pointed it out to me x

I have video of him at 3 months doing it! He always has and I think he always will! He at least corrects himself after he does it now and switches fingers although he giggles and says "that was my naughty finger!"

Adanma

 

[TTC LADY]

out of curiousity - which finger is the "naughty finger"

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

I think it can be any finger but the index finger. People naturally point with the index finger but asd children often dont. My son uses middle finger (can get embarrassing depending on what angle his hand is at LOL)